Election day in Syria

June 3 - Syrians take to the polls and are expected to deliver an overwhelming victory to President Bashar al-Assad with ballot box offering little prospect for peace. Deborah Lutterbeck reports.

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Election day in Syria.
Amateur video, which can not be independently verified by Reuters, shows war raging in the country as voters are expected to hand Syrian President Bashar al-Assad an overwhelming victory.
The 48-year-old President along with his wife head into the polls.
Assad has ruled Syria since succeeding his father 14 years ago.
In the past three years he has overseen a country engulfed in civil war which has killed more than 160,000 people.
His foes on the ground have called the vote "illegitimate." The French Foreign Minister called in a " tragic farce."
State media is reporting that voting was extended five hours to accommodate demand.
Assad is running against two relatively unknown challengers who were approved by a parliament packed with his supporters. It is the first time in half a century that Syrians have been offered a choice of candidates.
But Assad is the overwhelming favorite and is widely expected to win another seven year term in a country locked in a stalemate of war with the ballot box offering little prospect for peace.